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It's unfortunate we have to suffer a national tragedy to shed light on the things we should be grateful for. Hurricane Harvey brought devastation the likes of which our nation has never seen. And that's not hyperbole. Hurricane Harvey will be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

Today, my family lives in Round Rock, TX, just outside of Austin, where we relocated from Houston just 3 short years ago. It's only through sheer luck that we weren't one of the thousands of currently displaced families. Had we not relocated a few years back, who knows what struggles we could be facing in the aftermath of the storm. Harvey only managed to knock down the fence around our home, which is a blessing in and of itself.

All I know is it's about high time we started counting our blessings a little more consistently than we currently do.

So every Monday, my wife and I will take this time to reflect through all the weekly struggles, frustrations, screaming children, unplanned expenses, surprise bills, disappointing date nights, speeding tickets, challenging co-workers, and whatever else the week throws our way to highlight what we're both grateful for.

We know too many friends and family who lost every single thing they owned, but still got away with their lives, to complain about the bullshit.

So this Monday, September 4th, 2017, I'm grateful for:

HIM

1. all the friends and family who made it out with their lives and their loved ones. The real challenge starts now.

3. my 6 month old daughter's laughter every time she see my face. The joy she holds and gives is indescribable.

4. good ass food. Honestly, this might hit my gratitude list every damn week. Food.Is.Life. And we're so damn fortunate to eat well every night. I mean just tonight, we killed a rack of slow baked baby back dry rub ribs and seared shishito peppers we picked up earlier today from the Farmers Market. Don't hate. Emulate. Up your lifestyle. You'll thank us later.

How can you not feel better about yourself when this person is so happy to see your face? Eventually, she'll pay money to avoid her parents, so we'll enjoy the time we have now.

HER

1. Ditto on the hubs' number one. Things could have went left for any of our friends. But I am so thankful that they are still here and trying to now move forward with their lives.

2. my son enjoys food most kids will probably never have an opportunity to eat or even care to eat. Today I made roasted beets, quinoa and chickpea "tuna" salad. I've been eating more vegetarian/vegan meals lately and sharing them with him. He loved it all and even requested the salad in his lunch for school and more beets as well. He also drinks kombucha, unsweetened loose leaf teas and enjoys spam masubi.

3. our daughter is pretty damn chill. She rarely cries. But when she does its for not getting the boob to her quick enough or when I leave the room. That of course warms my heart because it lets me know she loves me and boy do I love her!!

4. our daughter is sleeping more. she's not sleeping through the night just yet but her initial stretch of sleep has been 1-3 hours longer than usual. While I would definitely like to be getting a full 6-8 consecutive hours of sleep, I'll take what I can get at this point. *updated* she toyed with my emotions and sleep last night. Sigh...😩